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The books that were made into Oscar-nominated films of 2013.

If you’re following this year’s awards season, you may have noticed that many of the movies receiving the highest accolades were adapted from novels. Some of the big winners at last night’s Golden Globes made me want to compile a small list of the books that inspired the movies. While many viewers of the awards season make it their mission to watch all of the nominated films, wouldn’t it be an interesting idea to read the book behind each lit-inspired movie? If you care to tick off that list, it is…

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

8 Nominations

Someone over at Goodreads likened this book to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower for adults.” That’s probably on account of the novel’s tender qualities, quirky humor, and soul. Warm your heart with this debut novel from Matthew Quick.

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio J. Mendez

7 Nominations

The book and the movie provide a behind-closed-doors look into an almost unreal CIA mission to save six embassy workers from Iran in the 1970s… by impersonating a sci-fi film crew. Don’t get a manicure before watching or reading this entertaining political thriller.

A boy, a boat, and a tiger — one might say those are the main components of Martel’s novel, and correspondingly director Ang Lee’s movie. But both deliver much more: spellbinding visuals, philosophical themes, and yes I just have to reiterate, an amazing tiger called Richard Parker.

Adaptations of Tolkien’s works have dominated cinema for the last decade, so unless you call the lonely space beneath a rock your home, you’ll probably know what you’re in for with Jackson’s latest movie. Yet, returning to Middle Earth to recount the fantasy of your childhood will yield memories that might not have made it to the film (despite it being the first three-hour installment of a trilogy).

Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

12 Nominations (for the film Lincoln)

Though of course Spielberg’s biopic is based on actual history, it had a helping hand from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography. But beware, it’d probably be faster to complete an AP course on U.S. History than to read this 944-page tome. For the ambitious among you, the biography reveals the brilliance behind one of America’s most cherished forefathers and comes highly recommended by the elite who have the will to sit down and read it.

The musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s sprawling tragedy set during the upheaval of the French Revolution has been on stage for years and has now made its way to the silver screen. But if you want a reading of the work that does not involve singing every line, try picking up Hugo’s original. Of course, if you enjoy the catharsis of singing every line as you read them, by all means go ahead… so long as I’m not anywhere near you at the time.

What Oscar-nominated adaptations did you enjoy this past year? Which did you enjoy that did not make it into the Academy’s good graces? Share with us in a comment below!